


Five Reasons Why Peter Likes to Spend Time with Tony, and One More

by aerxplane



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Avengers: Infinity War (Movie) Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, im just not, sorry im trying to be a good writer but, tony is pete's dad fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 08:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerxplane/pseuds/aerxplane
Summary: Peter Parker hates to think that there will be a day that holds the last conversation he ever has with Tony Stark.  He stretches out every conversation, every late night phone call, he pulls random conversation topics out of hats so he can hear Tony’s finger hover over the end-call button before retracting it, so they can talk until the sun comes up.  He’s desperate for Tony Stark’s approval and love because he is the greatest man Peter has ever known and that’s why he wants to make it last.





	Five Reasons Why Peter Likes to Spend Time with Tony, and One More

**Author's Note:**

> oof i was excited about this one but then i realised im a shit writer :/

 1. Tony Stark is Peter Parker’s idol.

It’s as simple as that, ever since 2010 and Justin Hammer’s Hammer Drones messed up and started terrorising Flushing Meadows, New York during the Stark Expo, Peter Parker in his Iron Man mask (he was a fan since he was 8, can you tell?) held up his little repulsor flashlight because he _knew_ that he could take down this one robot.  Deep down, he knew that his weapon was fake, but something told him that he _could_ do it, even against this faceless gray machine staring down at him, holding up its _own_ , _extremely real gun_ , and for a second, 8-year-old Peter maybe felt a flicker of doubt?  

But the Hammer Drone exploded and for a split second, he really thought he had done it.  Then it collapsed, and Peter saw what had really happened, and it was better than him shooting it down himself, because the person who _had_ was Tony fucking Stark.  He was in the red-and-gold Iron Man suit and it looked even better close up and 8-year-old Peter could feel his heartbeat racing through his ears because _Tony Stark just saved his life_ and wow, was he lying if he said that he didn’t shit his pants when _Iron Man_ leaned down and said “nice work, kid.” before flying off, his voice grated and thinned through the suit, but it was still unmistakably the guy who kickstarted Stark Industries, the person who created the Iron Man suit and had been the subject of all of Peter Parker’s non-sexual fantasies (okay well, mostly non-sexual) up until he really met him at 15 years of age, and this was _Tony Stark_.  

Because 7 years after _Tony Stark_ had saved his life in 2010, he turned up on Peter Parker’s living room sofa and asked him to join the Avengers.  Okay well, not really, but he, as Spider-Man, had fought by him against _Captain America_ , and if that didn’t count as being an Avenger, then what did?  Because every time that _Tony Stark_ pulled him out of class for a test run of the newest Spider-Man suit he had invented during a 4AM coffee spur, or every time that his phone rang during gym and the automated voice on his answering machine said it was _Tony Stark_ who was calling, or every time that he said _sorry, I can’t hang out because I have a meeting with_ Tony Stark, he was reminded that he was the latest interest of Anthony Edward Stark, and he did not mind in the slightest.

* * *

  2. Tony Stark is the father that Peter Parker never had.

Peter never really knew his parents, and that was okay.  Honestly. They died when he was 4, and Aunt May always told him that he was a stoic toddler, that he never cried, always staring unblinkingly up at her, brave, and strong, but he doesn’t really believe it.  Firstly, what baby doesn’t cry, and secondly, he doesn’t even remember them. His parents. He’s never told Aunt May this, too afraid to hurt her, in fact, he’s only ever told one person. Coincidentally, that person is Tony Stark.  

As far as he was concerned, Aunt May was Peter’s mother.  She acted like one (at least to the best of his knowledge, it wasn’t like he had an actual mother to compare her to), she fussed over him, helped him with his homework when he was younger (but by the time he was in high school, all his assignments could be in German where Aunt May was concerned, she tried to help but she honestly didn’t understand it), packed his lunch for school, embarrassed him in front of his friends… She was the whole package deal and he loved her.  

He wished he could have said the same for Uncle Ben, but he was never a solid figure in Peter’s life.  Ben and Aunt May had never had a steady flow, and he was hardly ever present during Peter’s growing up.  Sometimes, he even forgets what his uncle's voice sounds like.

But then along comes Tony Stark, who tells him to forget about his homework and come to Germany to fight Captain America with him and honestly, that’s all the convincing he needs.  And when he assumes that Iron Man will just dump him when he’s done with him, he invites him to Stark Industries and takes him on a tour, and Peter Parker gets to see Tony Stark’s eyes light up behind his ridiculous yellow-tinted glasses, or survey a new bot he started working on just a few hours ago, but already has a working prototype and performance issues, and he watches as the circles under Tony Stark’s eyes fade and darken and fade, and then remained permanently etched into his face as he destroys himself, and when Peter accidentally calls him Dad and then flinches like he’s been struck, Tony leans over, puts his hands on his knees and laughs in that hoarse, pitchy laugh until he cries, and Peter can only make out “son” from his laughing fit before he’s blushing, and Tony’s laughing harder and Peter hates him for it, but also kind of loves him.

* * *

 3. Tony Stark has the ability to change Peter Parker’s future.

Stark Industries is the biggest company in the world, and the only one that matters, at least in Peter’s eyes, and when he briefly mentions how his school is shutting down their science lab because they can’t afford to keep it open, Tony Stark gets a knowing glint in his eye that makes Peter nervous, but it isn’t until the next day, when he walks into school and sees the lab up and running as always, that he gets confused.  So he asks the teacher and she smiles and says, “we’ve gotten a donation.” and the idea is incredible enough, but then he finds out that the donation expands to _another_ laboratory, three more basketball courts and an entire building’s worth of more classrooms, and he sprints to Stark Industries, finding Tony on the top floor and collapses gasping, “did you just save my school?”

 “Now, Peter,” Tony Stark turns around.  “That was supposed to be an anonymous donation.”  Peter refrains from scoffing. “But, it’s so much _money_ , how could you—“  “Exactly.” Tony cuts him off sharply.  “It’s so much money, and I’ve got lots to spare.” and Peter can hardly believe that his school has two science labs, five basketball courts and _a whole new building_ , all because he has good connections.

 “Mr. Stark, I can’t thank you enough, honestly, I—“  Tony shakes his head. “Chill out kid, I barely did anything.  I didn’t get you the new toys, your school did. I just took out a limiting factor for them.”

 Peter can’t believe him.  “Yea, the _economic one_ .”  But Tony Stark won’t hear it anymore, and sends Peter away, and it’s a new side of the man behind a mask, the one who doesn’t take responsibility for anything, even his achievements, and it only makes Peter worship him more.   _Tony fucking Stark_ , and being an intern at Stark Industries is _really_ helping his robotics class.  But seriously, with the right tip from the right guy (ahem, Stark himself), he could get into any college he wanted, hell, he could bring Ned, and Michelle.  With Tony Stark’s approval, Peter Parker would be able to go anywhere, do anything he’d like.

 And of course, that’s not the reason he stuck by Tony for all this time.  He stays with Tony Stark because he loves him like a father and he’s the most influential adult figure in his entire life (sorry Aunt May), but he wouldn’t lie if a recommendation from Tony Stark wouldn’t do heaps of work for him in the long run.

 So he brings it up subtly, hinting at it ever so slightly when he’s walking around Stark Industries with Tony, and every time he gets a little braver, Tony just doesn’t get it and brushes it off as a joke, so he reduces into his timid shell with the person inside screaming _just ask him for approval_ but listening to inside-Peter never does him any good so he shuts up and enjoys his time with Tony.  Because he does. Really. So fucking much.

 But then one day after he saves Queens from the Vulture, Adrian Toomes, and Tony Stark finally (for what it seems) realises Peter Parker’s true potential, and offers him a spot on the Avengers, for real this time, complete with a new Spider-Man suit that is so sleek and shiny and matches Iron Man’s red-and-gold, which to be honest is the highest achievement in _life_ , and Peter's kicking himself the moment he turns it down, even though he knows it’s the right decision.

 Though at this point, Peter should stop expecting that _that_ is the best that Tony Stark can do, because at this point, the sleek new Spider-Man suit is taken away and Peter is internally screaming, and he turns to leave but not before Tony slaps him friendlily on the chest and says, “hey, I was thinking, and I think this might do you some good.”  Peter hears a crinkle on his chest and looks down to see a brown envelope in Tony’s hand with nothing on it but his messy scrawl, barely illegible, reading ‘Peter Parker’ on it.

 “It’s for you,” Tony adds, as if it wasn’t obvious, and for a genius he can sometimes be a little odd, but he adds, “don’t be afraid to abuse it, it’ll take you a long way.  Don’t open it in front of me.” He ushers Peter out the door, grinning broadly, and Peter starts to suspect this is a practical joke of sorts when Tony nearly shoves him into the car.

 He’s wrong.  When he open an envelope, it’s a 5-page, double-sided, single-spaced letter to every college that Peter wants to attend (he had talked about them with Tony _months_ ago, he can’t believe that Stark actually remembered every single one) about how Peter Parker is the most incredible young mind he’s ever worked with, and how any school in the entire world would be lucky to have him.

When he calls up Tony later, nearly crying out of sheer disbelief, Stark simply says “okay” into the phone and hangs up, but Peter can hear the smile.

* * *

  4. Tony Stark created his Spider-Man suit, and that means superhero stuff.

 The Stark Industries complex has never _not_ been a mystery to Peter Parker, and he’s tried to sneak in more times than he could count, but this time, instead of crawling in as _Peter Parker, kid from Queens,_ he strides in as _Spider-Man, superhero._ Okay well, maybe not _superhero_ , but he’s working on it.

 And he loves it, being able to walk into Stark Industries freely, with the guards nodding professionally at him and the tall woman at the counter (hand-picked by Tony, no doubt) asking him if he needs anything, and the walls are all glass and sun filters through so that it’s bright but not too bright, warm but not too warm, and they’re held up by slanted pale gray pillars and Peter feels like he’s at the center of the universe when he’s in Stark Industries.

 And the _escalators_ , they’re easily over 5 meters in height and he loves standing still on them as they travels slowly upwards, watching the people on the white ground floor get smaller and smaller (because of this, he’s tripped over the top of the escalator way too many times, once even at the feet of Ms. Pepper Potts, who seemed slightly amused, her bodyguard, not so much) and every floor is a new fascination, but his favourite is the top floor.

 The top floor is dark and smells slightly like stale coffee, but Peter adores it because it screams _Tony Stark._ The man could probably _live_ here if Pepper Potts didn’t drag him back out into the sunlight every few days and it has everything that Peter ever dreamed of.  There’s an old prototype of the Captain America shield from World War II sitting in the corner against the gray slab wall, and Tony has caught Peter multiple times waving it around, pretending he was punching Hitler in the face, and there are several Mach designs of the older Iron Man suits that Tony won’t ever let him fly, so he just watches them longingly.

 The real treat though, is watching Tony Stark work.  It’s like Peter becomes invisible and the only person in the entire universe is Tony and Peter swears on his life that the longest Stark went without blinking was five whole minutes because he was performing advanced calculations in his head.  It’s entrancing, watching Tony’s face scrunch and and soften whenever he encounters a problem, and he’s mostly silent, besides a muttered curse at DUM-E and a small shout whenever he passes a large milestone and it’s unlike Peter’s ever seen.

* * *

 5. Tony Stark seems lonely, sometimes, and so is Peter.

 He’s the strongest person Peter knows.  There’s no doubt about it, even after all he’s been through, the death of his parents, the betrayal of almost everyone he’s ever worked with, even _Captain America_ , he still puts on a strong face and laughs his way through it all.  But sometimes when he hasn’t drunk enough to forget and when it’s a little too early in the morning, the _real_ Tony Stark slips through, the one that’s not indestructible, but instead the one that’s terrifyingly, awfully _human_.   It’s quiet, almost invisible, but that hidden person, that part of Tony is there, and it comes out in moments that Peter would hardly expect.  

 “What if somebody had died tonight?  Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on _you._ And if you died… I feel like that’s on me.”

 Peter gets scared when Tony says things like this.  It makes him rethink his actions a little, and he almost doesn’t know what to say.  because sometimes he forgets that Tony Stark hasn’t lost _everything_ , you know?  And then he hates himself a little for thinking thoughts like that, but it’s true.  Tony Stark is Iron Man because he’s been stripped of everything so many times, he’s ruthless.  Except sometimes he’s not. And Peter desperately doesn’t _want_ to know that side of him, he wants Tony to be this omnipotent, laughing, perfect person who is everything Peter ever wanted him to be, but he’s not, and if Peter stays, he knows he has to accept this.  And he does. Easily.

Because Peter gets lonely too, and he misses the family that he never had, he misses Liz Allen from his homecoming who moved away, still blaming him for everything, and he’ll go to Tony, because he knows that he’ll listen at 2 in the morning when Peter’s tired and emotional and weeping and Tony will call his cell, almost like he has a camera in his room and he’ll listen, and he’ll say something like “well kid, hate to tell you this but, that’s just how it is” and he’ll hang up and Peter will feel better, like he always does after Stark calls.

* * *

 One more: Peter Parker spends so much time with Tony Stark in order to make sure he never has to say goodbye to him.

Peter Parker hates to think that there will be a day that holds the last conversation he ever has with Tony Stark.  He stretches out every conversation, every late night phone call, he pulls random conversation topics out of hats so he can hear Tony’s finger hover over the end-call button before retracting it, so they can talk until the sun comes up.  He’s desperate for Tony Stark’s approval and love because he is the greatest man Peter has ever known and that’s why he wants to make it last.

Even in the airport when he got punched in the face by _Captain America_ and was probably concussed, he tried to get up, honestly, he did, because more fighting meant more time with Iron Man, which meant Tony Stark, and every time the man appeared and saved Peter’s hide, he wasn’t even embarrassed about it, because that meant Tony Stark cared just enough to show up, and that meant the world to Peter.

Every time that Peter Parker thought that Tony Stark, the genius billionaire, was finally done with him, that he had had his fun but now it was someone else’s turn, he kept coming back with new suits, new tech, new ideas, and Spider-Man became the Iron Spider and everything else that was brewing in Tony Stark’s endless mind and every time Peter Parker was called into Stark Industries, or even the Avengers complex, even after two whole years of working in the superhero business, all he could think was “Tony Stark brought me here."

That’s why he went back for him, onto that round alien spaceship because Tony was there, and he followed him all the way to the planet Titan, orbiting fucking _Saturn_ , because Tony was there too, and he tried, honestly, with everything in him to help, even when a guy he’d never seen before with a red leather jacket who called himself Star-Lord held a gun to his head screaming about some girl, or when the doctor with the red cloak started doing scary mojo with his face and told everyone of their impending doom, Peter wasn’t worried, because Tony Stark was there, and Tony always fixed everything, right?

That was why he went along with their plan, diving headfirst into it with no doubt whatsoever, even having a little fun when he leapt through the doctor’s orange portals to punch Thanos in the face, and trying with all his might to pull that awful gauntlet off of the brute’s giant hand, and soaring away from battle to rescue the girl with the antennae and Star-Lord and everybody else (he couldn’t remember their names) because he knew he would always go back for Tony Stark.

When he saw the Iron Man suit nearly completely demolished, Tony’s face peering out from inside, streaked with blood and a jagged piece of metal protruding violently from his abdomen, when his senses peaked and he felt the pain of trillions of beings having their lives stripped away all around the entire universe, striking him like a blow to the chest, when he realised that Tony Stark was many things, an idol, a father figure, a genius… hell, he was Peter’s savior, but maybe… maybe he wasn’t invincible.  Maybe he wasn’t a god. And that meant that maybe, he couldn’t save them, which meant that they were all horrifyingly, painstakingly mortal.

And finally, when Peter’s senses became so intense to the point where it felt like an itch that he had to scratch until he bled, he stumbled.  

“I don’t feel so good.”  Achingly aware of his dry lips, the shivering that came from within his body was almost like a reflex along with the drop of his stomach.

“You’re alright.”  Tony’s voice suddenly had a desperate quality to it, one he didn’t have moments before, and Peter was suddenly choking on his own spit because that was _his_ voice.  That was the voice _he_ used when _he_ was talking about Tony Stark, and that meant… that meant… well, he had never imagined that Tony could love Peter as much as Peter loved Tony.

And somehow, that hurt even more.

“I don’t-“  He couldn’t even get the words out anymore, gasping out dry breaths.  “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t-“ He didn’t know what to do, except that Tony Stark was _right there_ , and Tony Stark could _do anything_.  He lurched forward, steadying himself on the arms that were right there to grab him and he collapsed.

“Save me.  Save me.” Heaving, he knew that pleading would be no use.  As simple as it was, Tony Stark was not a god. Never in a million years would he ever consider that he would be vulnerable if Tony Stark was there, but the truth was that the searing pain was still tearing through his person, ripping apart every atom in his body and Tony was doing nothing.

“I don’t wanna go.”  He let out a wretched dry sob.  “I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go, Mr. Stark, _please_ .”  And suddenly he was sorry.  Maybe it was because his hand was dematerialising right in front of his eyes, or that he realised he was dying and Tony couldn’t do anything to stop it.  “Please. I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go.” He was crying it like a mantra now, even while knowing that it wouldn’t do anything because he was _selfish_.

He never realised it before, that his _not wanting to say goodbye to Tony_ was so selfish, that his stubborn unwillingness to not let go of a man who had given him everything was so unforgivable.  Because while he was dying he realised that he never considered the possibility that Tony would have to say goodbye to Peter instead, and that where relief should have been, relief where he realised that Tony wasn’t going to die like all the others, there was only pain.  “I’m sorry.” He whispered, but he wasn’t sure Tony could even hear him.

And then Peter Parker died, along with half the universe.


End file.
